AIM was dead to me until a few weeks ago when they introduced Facebook Chat integration. Now it looks like I’m always on Facebook which probably has some of my friends and family questioning what exactly I do with my free time (like they didn’t already). Let me show you the quick and easy way that lets me always be on Facebook Chat (and AIM).

First, whip out your iPhone or iPod Touch and either launch or download the free AIM app [iTunes link]. If you haven’t  skipped ahead, you’ll need to link your Facebook account and AIM account which you can do within the app.

Now, go to ‘Preferences’ under the ‘Me’ tab. Scroll down and under “when exiting AIM…” you’ll see the option for “Sign off” after a period of time. I choose ‘After 24 Hours’ which means that if at any time during a day I launch the AIM app, I’ll be signed in until the next day. If I get at least one IM via AIM or Facebook per day, I’ll always be connected!

You’ll also notice AIM allows you to turn Push notifications On while disabling SMS notifications. This means every time someone IMs you, it is free. When you unlock your iPhone to answer, it opens up the AIM app, you quickly sign on, and are ready to have a conversation.

I don’t mind being available 24/7 but I understand it’s not for everyone. I’ve definitely chatted more with my Facebook friends in the past couple of weeks with this enabled. Conversations spark on my way out the door, and I can leave my laptop while still continuing to respond as I’m on the L. It works the other way, too. I’ve noticed that Facebook Chat conversations started in AIM show up minimized the next time I log into Facebook so I can continue chatting or look back at what we were talking about.

I’ll save the paranoid conspiracies about why or why not Facebook is logging all of your chats for another day. In the mean time, let’s chat.

Update

Jeremiah Hester (@pixelnated) brought Meebo [iTunes Link] to my attention that also has push notifications for AIM and a range of other IM networks. Do you have a favorite or more excellent iPhone app examples?